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Leominster school district chosen for ed-reform project

By Jack Minch, jminch@sentinelandenterprise.com

Updated:
12/27/2012 06:37:47 AM EST

LEOMINSTER -- The Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy recently announced it picked Leominster as one of six school districts in the state to take part in a two-year project to improve education.

The project is meant to speed up the pace of education reform through improved labor-management collaboration, The Rennie Center said in a prepared statement.

Leominster will be studying alternative compensation packages for teachers as part of The Rennie Center's District Capacity Project.

"We're not trying to shove something down the teachers' throats," said School Committee Vice Chairman Donna DiNinno. "This is a collaborative effort."

The School Committee is working with Superintendent James Jolicoeur's administration and with the unions.

The project is in its early stages for research, so no details were available Wednesday, DiNinno said.

"By participating in the DCP, we are committing to the collaboration of teachers and management toward building capacity in key areas through research and innovation," Jolicoeur said. "We aim to identify new strategies to move at a faster pace toward continuing to raise student achievement, closing achievement gaps, and preparing students for success in career and college."

The teachers union is expected to take an active role in the project.

"School improvement comes out of a collaborative process, and we're glad that the DCP is putting an emphasis on the teamwork and cooperation that is so critical to student success," said union President Barry Hudson, who is band director at Leominster High School.

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Other districts taking part in the project include Berkshire, Boylston, Fall River, Malden and Springfield.

The districts are expected to come together with a statewide network of their peers for combined training sessions and discussions during the project.

"It can be challenging to move beyond labor-management issues that, at their worst, create a paralyzing stalemate in some school districts," said Chad D'Entremont, executive director of The Rennie Center. "Leominster and other DCP participants were selected in part because of their demonstrated commitment and accomplishments in this difficult space."

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